[sblock=Speck]
N Goblin Totem Barbarian 3
When the other foragers were earning their names, Eggswiper Six was learning to fence. Humans left all sorts of things in their barns, and if he could sell a saddle or a wheelbarrow as well as grab some dinner for him and the Queen, he’d be able to buy some lovely paprika and he’d eat better than everyone else. It was at that time that he was also learning to fence (why did Common use the same word for these two things? It made no sense). He was quick with a knife, quicker than most of his nestmates, and he would often draw bruises with the wooden blades they gave the tadpoles to practice with. But Eggswiper was soft, even if he was hard. As his nestmates thinned out (survival in a goblin nest is barely two in a dozen, making it to naming) the Queen noticed that he had killed none of his siblings. None of them! Three had killed over half. Six had the skills, but he also had a heart, and that doesn’t do for a budding gob.
Three was the first named, of course. Six was fast, and served the Queen well, but he had a more discerning palate than she, and his heart was never committed to the brood. His time amidst the humans had corrupted him, and he had learned “mercy” and “personal property” and other surface concepts that disrupt the flow of a smoothly-run goblin brood. When he was named, it was an insult – Speck. The smallest, most least substantial crumb of a thing. But the name meant he could go, and so he was finally off. Not to start his own nest, find a new Queen. Speck went back to the surface world. He liked it on the surface.[/sblock]
OK, so this is seriously fabulous. Love the goblin economy going on here. Love the cookery tools. Wonder if the "lovely paprika" was smoked or Hungarian paprika? Poor Speck; off to join the surface world only to find himself shuffled into the Underdark. Any further thoughts on whether to roll with Bad Reputation or with Discovery? What kinds of things will send Speck into a Rage, do you think (other than the obvious mechanic of being attacked)? Elk totem, with its extra movement, would combine in a pretty uber way with Speck's high hp and ability to Dash; he'd be like a petite whirlwind of death.
And, also: s'up with the shovel? There's a story there, I sense.
